NEW DAYS OF YELLOW RIBBONS

Summary: Not long ago, the Government of the FRY
issued Instructions on entering the newly-established
Yugoslavia which introduces ruthless discrimination against
its own citizens. Many believe that this is a measure which
continues ethnic cleansing, and even makes it legal. Who
cannot enter the FRY - those who have sought asylum in the
countries they are staying in; persons with passports of
some of the seceded republics of former Yugoslavia; persons
with the former Yugoslav passport, but whose residence is
outside the territory of the FRY; and persons with Croatian
or Bosnian passports. The regulation is primarily aimed
against Kosovo Albanians as an attempt to prevent their mass
return into the country, against Sandzak Muslims and
Vojvodina Hungarians, but against citizens of Serbian or
Montenegrin nationality, as well, whose return could cause a
change in the electorate.

Text:

Although the Federal Government issued "Special
Instructions on the Possibility of Entering Yugoslavia" in
the midst of last month, introducing in this way extremely
ruthless discrimination against its own citizens and
violating fundamental human rights, so far there were no
reactions of the democratically oriented public.

The Government which did not bother to turn its
head, least of all to become concerned, when its citizens
headlong fled the country, with this decree which is
comparable to the one from the days of the yellow ribbons,
obviously wishes to prevent the return of these very
citizens. Based on that, some tend to conclude that this is
a continuation of ethnic cleansing, in other words its
legalization.

According to these instructions "Persons who were in
proceedings of seeking asylum in countries where they are
staying; those who possess the passport with serial numbers
of seceded republics of former SFRY; holders of Yugoslav
passports (persons of Muslim and Croatian nationality) whose
residences entered into the passports are outside the
territory of the FRY; holders of Croatian passports and
persons who have Muslim, i.e. passports of the so-called
Bosnia & Herzegovina, shall not be allowed to enter the
FRY".

Rade Ratkovic, member of the Presidency of the
Montenegrin Helsinki Committee, comments on this: "While all
the serious countries of the world take care of their
citizens wherever they are, these instructions are actually
a drastic violation of human rights, because this is
discrimination against citizens by their own country.
Western countries are trying to return the refugees to their
homes, but this regime shows, like so many times before,
that it does not wish to correspond with the world, but
introduces sanctions against its own citizens. This is
clearly a case of illegal and immoral limitations of rights
of a large number of citizens".

The Federal Government has issued these
instructions, as its representatives say, in order to
"prevent mass entrance of false asylum seekers into the
country". The Government is, namely, concerned about the
fact that the countries of Western Europe where, according
to its knowledge, "over 200 thousand of false asylum seekers
are staying, out of which 95 per cent are Albanians", are
now trying to return these citizens of Serbia and Montenegro
to their homes.

Mehmed Hajrizi, member of the Presidency of the
Democratic Alliance of Kosovo, says that they have learnt
about this decision of the Government which prevents the
return of the refugees from the press, and adds: "it seems
at first sight that these bans and recommendations are
administrative in nature, but essentially they are of a
profound political nature and a function of ethnic cleansing
of Kosovo. It is a well known fact that many Albanians have
fled from Kosovo due to everyday police repression and
torture, in order to avoid going to war, due to
unemployment, etc. Now these people are forbidden to return
to their homes, while on the other side, colonization of
Kosovo by several hundred Serbs is proclaimed, who are
mostly refugees from the space of former Yugoslavia.
Therefore, it is quite clear that this decision of the
Government is aimed at changing the ethnic composition of
the population in Kosovo".

While the Federal Government operates with the datum
of about 200 thousand Albanians from Serbia and Montenegro
who have sought asylum abroad, the Albanian "alternative"
claims that the figure is considerably larger. In one of the
past volumes of "Monitor", Redzep Qosja, member of the
Academy of Sciences and Arts, stressed that only under
Milosevic's rule, over 600 thousand Albanians emigrated from
Kosovo. Should this be correct, the question here is - are
the Serbian authorities, this time through the Federal
Government, trying to conceal the true number of emigrated
Albanians?

"It is evident that such restrictive regulations
about the return, as the Government says, of false asylum
seekers, affects Kosovo Albanians and Sandzak Muslims the
most, and even Vojvodina Hungarians", Rasim Ljajic,
Secretary General of the Party of Democratic Action from
Sandzak, says, and then adds: "In the past two and a half
years, we believe, about 70 thousand people temporarily
emigrated, and a part of them asked for temporary residence
permits, the so-called 'duldung". The provision of this
decision that citizens of the FRY (Muslims and Croats) who
are citizens of the FRY and have Yugoslav passports, but
addresses in them which are outside its territory, also
certifies that the intention of the government is to change
the demographic composition.

As concerning Sandzak, most of these people are in
the region near the border of Bosnia. The decision of the
Government is, therefore, primarily motivated by 'political'
(demographic) reasons, and the intention of individual
municipal authorities in Sandzak is to begin construction of
apartment buildings exclussively for, as they state,
personnel of Serbian nationality."

Andras Agoston, President of the Democratic
Community of Vojvodina Hungarians, assesses that between 35
and 40 thousand Hungarians have emigrated from Vojvodina.
"We are searching for this regulation for days now, but
cannot find it. This is, obviously, an internal regulation.
All we know about it is what we have read in the papers. We
are expecting specific examples of its implementation, that
is, people who will contact us, and then we will start
specific action", Agoston says.

Although the authorities wish to present the special
instructions issued by the Federal Government as an
intention not to allow the return of asylum seekers - the
Albanians, the decision is general, so one can conclude that
it will not be implemented only against those who have no
Serbian blood in their veins, but against those who are
ideologically unapt too. For instance, the most prominent
Montenegrin asylum seeker, the author Jevrem Brkovic, was
granted asylum by Croatia. Should these instructions of the
Government be strictly obeyed, he too, will be among those
who will not be allowed to return to Montenegro, at least
not until this regime is in power!

According to what Natasa Kandic, Director of the
Fund of Humanitarian Law from Belgrade, says, these
instructions of the Government are a case of violation of
Constitutional provisions. She says that she has information
that passports are being checked at Belgrade Airport, right
after the passengers leave the plane.

"According to the behavior in practice, this shows
that it is not just an isolated action, but a drastic change
for the worse and a new course and attitude towards those
who are returning. Instructions are an illegal means, and
therefore, when a Government issues instructions and not
laws, it has chosen illegal means" - Natasa Kandic
concludes.

But, those who hold power in Serbia and Montenegro,
seem to be concerned about the human rights of the asylum
seekers, after all. The Federal Government thus, entrusted
the Federal Ministry of the Exterior with the task "to
inform the High Commissioner for Refugees in Geneva and
other competent international organizations about the
attempts of mass return of false asylum seekers in order to
instigate action to prevent forced deportation and violation
of human rights of these people".

The principled Government, however, did not address
the international organizations to take action against
prevention of fundamental human right of each and every man
- to be able to live in his country. Nevertheless, Milorad
Ivanovic, Head of Consular Affairs Directorate of the
Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs, stated that "the FRY
does not wish to avoid its constitutional obligation to
accept all its citizens". He also stressed that "the
Yugoslav party was not capable of receiving, besides the 500
thousand refugees from parts of former Yugoslavia, an
additional 200 thousand of false asylum seekers".

Mr. Ivanovic made it clear that the Yugosav party
was negotiating with Switzerland and Sweden, and that it
planned to talk with Germany as well, "expecting to get from
them more details about the identity of persons who are
coming and their property in Yugoslavia". In order to
prevent the West from thinking that, God forbid, the "false
asylum seekers" would be deprived of their property in their
homeland, Ivanovic said that they wished to talk about the
dynamics of arrival of "returnees" into the country. He,
naturally, expected financial aid from the mentioned
countries for it.

The return of an enormous number of asylum seekers
into the country would doubtlessly change the present
demographic composition of the population, especially in
Kosovo, and return of emigrated Serbs, Montenegrins,
Muslims, Hungarians and others, would change (significantly)
the electorate in Serbia and Montenegro, because it would be
only logical to assume that people who have left because of
these authorities, would not vote for it. And a serious
regime such as this one, would not forget such a large
"trifle".

In making the choice between enormous financial
expenses paid for Yugoslav asylum seekers (their
accomodation, social aid, health services, and even
employment) and there forced return home, the countries of
the West have chosen the latter possibility; although they
are, by doing it, questioning their own assessments that
human rights are being violated in Serbia and Montenegro.

They can certainly find an excuse for their decision
in the fact that they do not wish to be accomplices in
ethnic cleansing carried out by Belgrade. But, it seems that
they too are forgetting their principles for the sake of
money.

Implementation of the "Special Instructions for
Possibilities of Entering the FRY" began. That is why the
statement made by Mr. Ivanovic is probably aimed at
alleviating the reactions of foreign public.

Or, it might be interpreted as a message to the West
that, should Belgrade be forced to change its decision, that
same West will have to pay an extremely high price for it. SEKI RADONCIC